the j journal

I am not sure if it’s part of aging, but trust me when I tell you that I am beginning to get panicky and scared on air turbulences. I have been on plane rides for countless of times where during my younger days, it wouldn’t really bother me at all if the plane gets shaky, maybe then, partly it was because excitement was still in my system that it simmers down any anxiety or panic that I may have.

Recently, it’s a different story. Yes I love to travel, having been in the airline industry for more or less 10 years, but now, I tend to get taken aback when air packets disturb an otherwise smooth ride.

I was thinking long and hard of when was the last time I panicked and it came vividly through me that it was in my recent trip to Cebu, Philippines. Midway through the flight, it gotten shaky, abruptly that is, a split second of a snappy and sharp descent and back up again where it shook my entire system completely and then the plane got back to descending again where then my initial thoughts were, what’s happening, are we crashing? (funny as it may sound when I start recalling it but it was a totally different feeling at that moment in time). I held tightly on to the arm rest and even held on to my friend. I began thinking about those documentaries that I saw on plane crash (I guess it’s my inclination towards documentaries like this and mystery and thriller novels finally taking its toll on me). My friend even got a migraine from the sudden jolt that we experienced. I kept praying that time and grateful that we got safe to the destination. Phew! Talk about panic.